UPDATE 2: Man admits to burning CO dogs

March 9, 2004

This "humane" society should be thoroughly investigated! And as to this filthy sadist, he ought to be sent IMMEDIATELY to the electric chair!!!! He's an addict of sadism!!! Watch your own life and your loved ones' lives if he gets free!!!! Adela

Let's write a line or 2 to the paper to educate the readers:

(remove 1 space in each email addy in this alert)

The Denver Post:

openforum @denverpost.com; skelly @denverpost.com;Rocky Mountain News:

letters @RockyMountainNews.com;

langbeins @RockyMountainNews.com

=====================================AnimalVoicesNews Source/Letters: The Denver Post openforum @denverpost.com ; skelly @denverpost.comRocky Mountain News letters@ RockyMountainNews.com ; langbeins @RockyMountainNews.com

Man admits to burning dogs

Arrest affidavit says 19-year-old had his pet with him at timeBy Sarah Langbein And Brian D. Crecente, Rocky Mountain News <langbeins @RockyMountainNews.com>

March 5, 2004

Ryan Dean Turtura brought his dog with him. The night 19-year-old Turtura broke into the Colorado Humane Society, stole five puppies, then set three of them on fire, he had his own pet with him, according to an arrest affidavit. Turtura, who deputies say admitted the Feb. 16 crime to police, appeared in Jefferson County Court Thursday via video from the jail. He faces charges of first-degree arson, second-degree burglary, cruelty to animals, theft and criminal mischief. His girlfriend's mother, Rhonda Redgate, turned him in after she saw him in a Walgreens surveillance video released by police, the affidavit says. "We would have never guessed that he would do something like this," Redgate said. She said friends told her to watch security-camera footage broadcast on local television, and she called police "as soon as we saw him - and it was him." Her daughter, Dana, whom Redgate did not want identified by her last name,

said she was also stunned that Turtura would be accused of animal cruelty. "It's definitely shocking to think that somebody I know and hang out with would do something like that," Dana said. After the alleged incident, "He didn't act like he'd done something wrong, he just acted normal." Jefferson County sheriff's investigators arrested Turtura on Wednesday at an apartment in the 9000 block of West Cross Drive, within walking distance of the crime scenes. He had cut his hair and shaved his facial hair to alter his appearance, he told police. "It's such a cruel crime," said neighbor Paul Willett, who was walking his shepherd-Labrador mix near Turtura's residence Thursday. "It makes you want to burn him." Turtura allegedly broke into the Colorado Humane Society shelter, taking a portable plastic kennel and a few puppies. He then wrapped duct tape around the front and rear legs of two of the puppies, placed them in the kennel and drove them to the Olde

Town movie theaters, 5550 W. Wadsworth Blvd. Once there, Turtura told police he doused the kennel in rubbing alcohol and set it ablaze, according to the affidavit. One of the puppies, a shepherd mix named Ashley, managed to jump from the flaming kennel as it melted around her. Ashley is recovering from her burns and has an adoptive family lined up. The other puppy died. Turtura returned to the shelter and stole a few more puppies. He then went to a Walgreens to buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Later that night, a worker at Bally's Total Fitness, 8996 W. Bowles Ave., spotted a man standing over a small black puppy wrapped in duct tape and on fire. Turtura says he put down one of the puppies when a witness startled him and then fled the scene with his dog, according to the affidavit. The puppy he set on fire died; the other puppy was uninjured. He left behind the bottle of rubbing alcohol, which led authorities to the Walgreens

on South Kipling Parkway, where they found the surveillance footage of a man purchasing two bottles of the alcohol. Turtura told deputies that he stopped at Walgreens - with the puppies in the back of his pickup - before heading to Bally's, according to the arrest affidavit. The fifth puppy has also been recovered, officials said. Turtura is being held on a $25,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in special housing, which is usually reserved for inmates suspected in sex offenses, emotionally charged cases or on suicide watch. "This thing has a lot of notoriety to it and has evoked a lot of emotion," said Jim Shires, a Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman. Turtura will be formally charged at 10 a.m. Monday. If he is released before then, the judge ordered him not to have contact with animals - including his own. Turtura's parents have custody of his dog. langbeins

@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2536 http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2705890,00.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Denver, CO

Article Published: Friday, March 05, 2004

Affidavit: Puppy-burning suspect a dog owner, too

By Sean Kelly <skelly @denverpost.com>

Denver Post Staff Writer

The man accused of stealing and burning puppies in attacks that shocked the metro area last month is a dog owner himself. According to an arrest affidavit, Ryan Turtura had his black Labrador with him when he burned a puppy behind a Jefferson County health club on Feb. 16. Sheriff's investigators found Turtura's dog when they searched his house this week.Turtura, 19, appeared in court Thursday, a day after he was arrested in connection with a series of dog burnings that outraged animal lovers. He faces charges of arson, burglary, cruelty to animals, theft and criminal mischief.Turtura, who works as an electrician's apprentice, has prior arrests for driving with a suspended license and failure to appear in court, Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show. A woman called a telephone tip line after she recognized Turtura from video surveillance pictures on television, according to the affidavit. She may receive a $17,000 reward if

Turtura is convicted.In the affidavit, Turtura confessed to stealing two puppies from the Colorado Humane Society in Englewood on Feb. 16. He told investigators he tied the puppies with duct tape behind an Arvada movie theater, doused their kennel with rubbing alcohol and lit it.Turtura said he then went back to the shelter, stole two more puppies and set one on fire behind a fitness club in south Jeffco. He did not say why he burned the dogs.On Monday, sheriff's officials released a drugstore surveillance tape that showed a man buying duct tape and rubbing alcohol the night the dogs were burned. Turtura told investigators he was "frightened" after seeing the video and cut his hair and shaved his face.Two puppies survived the attacks. One dog already has been placed with an adoptive family. The other, Ashley, who was pictured with a badly burned paw, also will go to a home. Some 150 people applied to adopt Ashley, said Wendy Loy, Colorado Humane

Society shelter manager.Of the arrest, Loy said, "It's a big relief, a huge burden off our shoulders. Now we can try to go back to normal. We can lay the puppies to rest."Turtura's dog was left with a friend, authorities said.Sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Tallman said investigators want to speak with more people but have no additional suspects.Turtura's next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, when formal charges will be filed. He was being held in lieu of $25,000 bond.Marilyn Robinson of The Denver Post contributed to this report.http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1997435,00.html All contents Copyright 2004 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,

broadcast, rewritten or redistributed for any commercial purpose.

Rita Fazio,

Korea Animal Protection Society (KAPS)

International Aid for Korean Animals (IAKA)

http://www.koreananimals.org/index.htm

Don't turn your back upon their pain, because it's hard to see.They have no other place to turn, They've only you and me.

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